What is Enter The Matrix™? Enter The Matrix is an action-adventure game from Atari and Shiny Entertainment. Enter the Matrix was released for all major platforms (PS2, Xbox, GameCube, PC) on May 15, 2003, the same day as the release of the film The Matrix Reloaded. The game was an instant best-seller. What makes this game special? Shiny Entertainment forged a unique relationship with The Matrix filmmakers Larry and Andy Wachowski to create an unprecedented video game experience. Not just a game based on a movie, Enter the Matrix is an integral part of the entire Matrix storyline. If you don’t play the game, you’re not seeing the entire Matrix story. The Wachowskis wrote the game’s story and script, breaking new ground in how Hollywood works with game developers. They collaborated on all game design elements and outlined all of the action moments in the game in true Matrix style, as well as personally directed new, never-before-seen 35mm film footage for the game, featuring the same actors, sets, costumes and effects used in The Matrix Reloaded. Why is this unique when there are lots of other movie / game combos? 1) Unprecedented level of interaction with the filmmakers. The Wachowskis had a direct hand in all aspects of the game design. Shiny developers spent several months on the film’s sets in Sydney, Australia and Alameda, California. 2) Unique story-telling process. Events in the film affect events in the game, and vice versa. 3) Unprecedented amount of motion capture. The game features about 1,000 martial arts moves, presented by motion capture and animation systems that are of a significantly higher quality than used by most games. What’s more, the game’s martial arts segments were directed by Yuen Wo-Ping, the acclaimed Hong Kong action director who choreographed all the fight scenes for all of The Matrix films, as well as Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, Charlie’s Angels and numerous other film projects. 4) Actual film footage. No other game has ever offered this amount of new Hollywood quality film footage, featuring the real actors, sets, crew, etc. 5) Special scenes. Shot exclusively by the Wachowskis for the game. These scenes are a tightly guarded secret. What’s the story of Enter The Matrix? The events in Enter The Matrix and The Matrix Reloaded take place in the same universe at roughly the same time. A character may walk out of a scene in the film, only to walk into a scene in the game. But both stories stand alone, in that if you were to just see the movie, it would of course make sense to you. But if you had also played the game, you’d get the story-within-the-story of the movie, and see why certain events in the film happen the way that they do. You have to play the game to get the entire Matrix Reloaded story! This storytelling device is unique in that the game, being a longer experience than the film, can explore the world of The Matrix in much greater depth. You’ll experience the film, but you will interact with the Matrix in the game. Tell me more about the game… In Enter The Matrix, you’ll take the role of either Niobe or Ghost, part of the same group of rebels as Morpheus, Trinity and Neo. Niobe is the Captain of the Logos, the fastest ship in the rebel fleet. Ghost is the ship’s weapons guru, and is a deep-thinking, philosophical assassin. The game features intense Matrix-style martial arts, wild shootouts, impossible stunts, insane driving, and a chance to pilot the fastest hovercraft in the fleet. The game also features a unique “hacking system” that allows the player to hack into the game, or his/her character, exploring and unlocking secrets. And of course guns. Lots of guns. How long is the game? The length of the game depends greatly upon how you play it. Gamers can expect about 20 hours of gameplay. There are two unique character paths the player can experience in the game, and there is over one hour of exclusive Matrix movie footage written and directed by the Wachowski brothers. The gameplay, exclusive storyline and hacking system offers a deep gameplay experience to uncover. Does the game feature Agents morphing into people? Yes, yes and yes. All the characters, including the Agents, can do everything portrayed in the original movie, plus more we can’t talk about yet! Tell me about Shiny Entertainment… Shiny Entertainment is a leading interactive video game developer, the creator of numerous award-winning titles for PC and video game consoles. Founded in 1993 by David Perry, Shiny’s current project is Enter The Matrix™, set in and around The Matrix Reloaded™ (the highly anticipated 2nd installment in the film trilogy) from Warner Bros. Pictures and directors Larry and Andy Wachowski. Enter The Matrix will be released for the following video game platforms – GameCube, PC, PS2 and Xbox – in spring 2003. A 20-year game industry veteran, Perry has developed 101 individual retail titles across 23 video game platforms, totaling more than $500 million in sales. Shiny’s first hit was the Earthworm Jim™ series of games, which spawned a successful line of action figures, comic books and a syndicated television cartoon series on the Universal Cartoon Studios/Warner Kids Network. Earthworm Jim remains one of the best-known video game characters of all time. Shiny followed that success with several award-winning PC and video game titles – MDK™ (1996), Wild9™ (1998), R/C Stunt Copter™ (1999), Messiah™ (2000) and Sacrifice™ (2000), the latter collecting more than 40 industry awards including Best Strategy Game.
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